"Ice Hockey + * + ~ + Double ..." a Canada Travel Page by kenHuocj

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'All of Canada is cheering' - for GOLD

It was 50 years ago to the day, Feb. 24, 1952, that the Edmonton Mercurys, a team of amateur players, won the country's last gold medal in hockey. No one figured it would ever take this long to repeat, but it was the perfect crowning moment to the best Winter Olympics ever for Canada.

Canadian hockey fans commandeer a bus as they pour onto Ste. Catherine Street in downtown Montreal on Sunday. Photo: Ryan Remiorz/CP

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Gretzky throws down the gauntlet

Gretzky throws down the gauntlet


(Feb. 18) Haven't seen Wayne Gretzky that outraged since 1993, when someone suggested after Game 5 of the Toronto-Los Angeles conference final that he looked like he was "skating with a piano on his back."

That someone, of course, was yours truly and all Gretzky did was come back with an overtime winner in Game 6 and one of the greatest Game 7 performances of all time to lead the Kings over the Maple Leafs and a berth in the Stanley Cup final.

Now, it will be interesting to see what impact Gretzky's comments have on Team Canada and its quest to win Olympic gold.
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Many here in Salt Lake City have taken great delight in Team Canada's struggles in the first two games. Gretzky was not the least bit happy when NBC host Jim Lampley mockingly suggested on the air that it's too bad the French figure skating judge wasn't a hockey referee because Canada's technical merit and artistic impression in hockey weren't very good.

Gretzky said "it almost sickens my stomach to turn the television on."

Without mentioning Lampley by name, that's who he was talking about.

But Gretzky also knows there has been widespread panic amongst Canadian fans over how poorly Canada played in the first two games. And he knows the Canadian media has also been critical of the team's performance, prior to the Czech game, that is.
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..... Gretzky throws down the gauntlet


(Feb. 18) Haven't seen Wayne Gretzky that outraged since 1993, when someone suggested after Game 5 of the Toronto-Los Angeles conference final that he looked like he was "skating with a piano on his back."

That someone, of course, was yours truly and all Gretzky did was come back with an overtime winner in Game 6 and one of the greatest Game 7 performances of all time to lead the Kings over the Maple Leafs and a berth in the Stanley Cup final.

Now, it will be interesting to see what impact Gretzky's comments have on Team Canada and its quest to win Olympic gold.

Mind you, as ticked as Gretzky was on Monday night in the wake of the 3-3 tie with the Czech Republic, there is clearly some method to his madness.

The Great One threw down the gauntlet to the whole world. Including his own team.

And, really, that's the point.

As angry as Gretzky was with Roman Hamrlik for crosschecking Theo Fleury, as unhappy as he was with "American propaganda" for rumours about discontent within Team Canada and as perturbed as he was with NBC commentator Jim Lampley's mocking of the Canadian hockey team on U.S. television on Monday afternoon, there was no question Gretzky was relying on one of the oldest, and often most effective, tricks in the book.

Create a siege mentality.

Circle the wagons, make it Canada against the world and hope that the players on Team Canada are paying attention.

That isn't to say Gretzky wasn't genuinely unhappy or that it isn't Canada versus the rest of the world.

Many here in Salt Lake City have taken great delight in Team Canada's struggles in the first two games. Gretzky was not the least bit happy when NBC host Jim Lampley mockingly suggested on the air that it's too bad the French figure skating judge wasn't a hockey referee because Canada's technical merit and artistic impression in hockey weren't very good.

Gretzky said "it almost sickens my stomach to turn the television on."

Without mentioning Lampley by name, that's who he was talking about.

But Gretzky also knows there has been widespread panic amongst Canadian fans over how poorly Canada played in the first two games. And he knows the Canadian media has also been critical of the team's performance, prior to the Czech game, that is.

With a strong effort against the Czechs that eased the fear and loathing at home, the time was right for Gretzky to provide a further rallying point.

Hell hath no fury like a Canadian hockey fan scorned, so Gretzky unquestionably played to that.

What he's trying to do is create a climate where the Team Canada bandwagon gathers momentum and make it difficult for anyone in Canada to say or do anything that isn't supportive of the Maple Leaf. And he's also trying to show some leadership, to prod or even pressure his own players into stepping up with a gold-medal effort.

Mario Lemieux certainly stepped his game up with two goals against the Czechs. Gretzky followed suit by giving his playes a further wakeup call, especially when he said that Canadian players have to learn to hate the opposition as much as they hate Canada.

Gretzky knows there's nothing to lose here. Team Canada goes into the tournament as the team to beat. There's nothing anyone can say that would put a bigger target on the backs of the Canadian team. So Gretzky said it, and he's clearly creating the siege mentality to further boost the Canadian team's psyche, which was in better shape anyway after a strong outing against the Czechs.
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..........For tsn.ca, I'm Bob McKenzie

>>>Canada's captain Mario Lemieux and general manager Wayne Gretzky celebrate Canada's 5-2 victory over the USA 5-2 for the Olympic gold medal in men's hockey at the Olympic Winter Games in West Valley City, Utah, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2002. (CP PHOTO/Frank Gunn)

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goalie Kim St.-Pierre

Canadian womens's hockey team goalie Kim St.-Pierre, of Chateauguay, Quebec, shows her gold medal to friends and family through the glass after the Canadian team won the gold medal with at 3 - 2 victory over the United States in Salt Lake City , Utah during the Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2002

(CP PHOTO/HO/COA/Mike Ridewood)

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Brodeurs now have a collection

Sunday, February 24, 2002 www.canoe.com
By CHRIS STEVENSON -- SLAM!

SALT LAKE CITY --
He used to look at if often,
not that he had a choice.

The bronze medal won by Denis Brodeur for Canada in the 1956 Olympic Winter Games hangs in the living room of the Brodeur family home in Montreal.

For the son, Martin, another goaltender, the medal was just part of the furniture for most of his early life.

"The Olympics were in my family since I was a kid, even before I was there even," said Martin Brodeur. "A lot of my family was looking forward to this. We were all happy to have a chance to play for gold."

Now there is a gold medal to become part of the son's decor, the spot already picked out. It will hang beside the mask Brodeur wore in these Olympic Games, the one with the maple leaf on the top and the words Salt Lake and Cortina D'Ampezzo, the places where the father and son chased Olympic gold, on the bottom.

The mask and the medal are going to go next to the mask Brodeur had in Nagano four years ago, but never got a chance to use.

"Now I've got something flashy to hang beside it," said Brodeur, looking down at the gold medal that hung from the blue ribbon around his neck.

Brodeur's progression in this tournament mirrored that of his team. A rough beginning, a gathering of confidence and then validation.

He had not had that great a season with the New Jersey Devils, but when Colorado's Patrick Roy, the concensus choice as the man to guard Canada's net here, pulled himself out of the running, Brodeur became a close second to Toronto's Curtis Joseph.

Not that it was entirely Joseph's fault, but Canada's one-sided loss to Sweden in the first game of the preliminary round opened the door for Brodeur.

"Patrick was still the best and he had played that way," said Team Canada head coach Pat Quinn. "I didn't know which way we were going to go for sure. The opening game was a hard one for us and I was going to play Martin in the second game."

Canada pulled out a 3-2 win over Germany that didn't earn any style points and even though the team and Brodeur were a little unsteady, a win was a win.

"It was part superstition...as we got better, I couldn't make a change," said Quinn.

That was followed by a tie with the Czechs, then a win over Finland in the quarterfinal and a one-sided victory over Belarus in the semifinal.

American goaltender Mike Richter was outstanding in the USA's win over Russia in their semifinal and looked to be on a roll.

There was little upon which to judge the state of Brodeur's game. The Americans opened the scoring Sunday with a Tony Amonte shot between Brodeur's pads on a 2-on-1 and it looked like Brodeur could be in for an ordinary day.

He had no chance on the Americans' second goal, which tied the game 2-2 in the second period as it deflected off the stick of Canadian defenceman Chris Pronger and between Brodeur's legs.

Brodeur saved his best for the third.

A turning point in the game came with Canada up 3-2 in the latter half of the third period and Canada's Steve Yzerman in the box for tripping. The puck slid over to American sniper Brett Hull in his favourite place, his off-wing circle.

He snapped it.

Brodeur snapped out his right toe.

"He's always there. That's his good spot. I knew he was there for the one-timer. I saw him out of the corner of my eye," said Brodeur. "I just tried to kick out my leg as quick as a I can."

Problem was, Brodeur's foot was behind the goal line as he started his move. On the bigger international ice, he had been playing deeper in the net.

"I had to change my game a little bit, I had no choice," said Brodeur. "My pad was inside the goal and I had to kick it out."

He did, of course.

Eighteen seconds after the Yzerman penalty expired, Canada's Jarome Iginla got his second goal of the game to make it 4-2.

"At 3-2, that save on Brett Hull turned the game around," said Team Canada executive director Wayne Gretzky. "We went down and scored.

"I'm happy for him and proud."

When Brodeur and Gretzky embraced after the game, Brodeur said he simply thanked him.

"I just said thank you for giving me the opportunity," he said. "And for having confidence. That's all I asked at training camp was for a chance to play. To every guy, the coaches and management, I say thank you very much."

They should say, no, thank you.

>>>>Canada's goaltender Martin Brodeur is surrounded by teammates Ed Jovanovski, Chris Pronger, Mario Lemieux and Mike Peca as they pose for a group photo with their Olympic gold medal after beating USA 5-2 in men's hockey at the Olympic Winter Games in West Valley City, Utah, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2002.
(CP PHOTO/Paul Chiasson)

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...Team Canada gave a captivated nation reason to

Monday, February 25, 2002
http://canoe.ca/2002GamesHockeyFeb02/25_cda1-sun.html

Red, white and gold!

Canada's 50-year drought finally over at Olympics

By BRUCE GARRIOCH -- Team Sun

SALT LAKE CITY -- It was a perfect way to celebrate a golden anniversary.

Exactly 50 years after the Edmonton Mercurys brought home the Olympic Games title from Oslo in 1952, Team Canada gave a captivated nation reason to cheeer again with a 5-2 win over Team USA in the gold-medal hockey game of the 2002 Winter Olympics.

As the crowd stood on its feet and an emotional GM Wayne Gretzky watched from the bench, the Canadian flag was lifted to the roof of the E Center and the players sang the national anthem on an afternoon that will be long remembered in history.

"Fifty years ago, I was probably just a thought. But I'm glad I was a thought," said Team Canada defenceman Al MacInnis. "This win means so much to our country.

"As you get older, you cherish these moments. I told the young guys to cherish these moments because you don't know when you're going to get this chance again."

Nobody will ever forget Canadian assistant captain Joe Sakic's heroic performance with two goals -- including the winner -- along with an assist, and the gutsy day provided by his wingers, Jarome Iginla and Simon Gagne.

The image of goaltender Martin Brodeur raising his arms to the air as he was mobbed by the Canadian players at the buzzer will be replayed in households throughout the nation for years to come.

Yes, Canada was back on top.

"Now, that we've won the Olympic Games, with this group of players, we've served notice again that we are the top hockey nation in the world. We've shown people we can get this done," said Brodeur, who made 31 stops.

"We're the hockey power in the world. Winning the gold will kind of reassure Canada that everything is okay. We felt all the expectations of all the people in Canada.

"I'll always remember this. I've been lucky in the NHL to be with a great organization, win two Stanley Cups and now this."

Canada couldn't have done it without Brodeur. His best save came in the third period with the Americans down 3-2, but on the power play and pressing to get back in it. He stopped Brett Hull point blank and then Iginla put it away at 16:01.

Up to that point, the U.S. looked determined to pull off another miracle, but it had none left in the bag. Canada's top players -- especially Sakic -- took their games to another level because they could smell gold.

"It was a great feeling to win the gold," said Sakic. "I've won the Stanley Cup and now I've won here. This means a lot because it means so much to your country, but it's hard to say right now which one means more.

"We had to work hard to get here. We played a great game. The one thing we did as a team was we got better as the tournament went on. We've really come together in the last 10 days and we've worked hard to be a team."

The Americans took the loss as well as could be expected because only 24 hours earlier, coach Herb Brooks had criticized Canada's style of play as being "stupid." But for the most part, they were gracious in defeat.

"A big monkey has been lifted off Canada's back," said Team USA centre Jeremy Roenick. "Both teams deserved to be here and they got the big goals today. It was a great game. Today was just their day."

Perhaps this win meant the most to Gretzky. "The players and the coaching staff (led by Pat Quinn) deserve all the credit," said Gretzky. "There's no question there was a great deal of pressure on us. There's pressure on all the teams, but especially us. It's very satisfying."

However, it was an American who summed up what was happening in Canada.

"There's a lot of people singing and dancing in Canada," said Roenick.

"This is what they've waited for a long time. I'm happy for them."

Canadians were happy for themselves yesterday.

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Fans wear pride on their sleeves

http://www.kingstonwhigstandard.com/content.asp?contentid=516

By Sarah Crosbie

Monday, February 25, 2002 - 7:00:00 AM

Local News - If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Canada¡¦s Olympic athletes can be proud. They do, after all, have Canadians clamouring to dress just like them.
After the Canadian men¡¦s hockey team¡¦s stunning 5-2 gold medal victory over the United States yesterday, expect to see a whole lot of red and white parading around Kingston.
For just $742 ¡V tax not included ¡V Kingstonians can dress from head to toe in Olympian garb just like local hockey Olympic hero Jayna Hefford wore in the opening ceremony and most athletes sported for their medal presentations.
The whole ensemble ¡V hooded sweatshirt, scarf, poorboy hat, fleece pants, long-sleeved shirt and, of course, the $450 ¡§Podium Jacket¡¨ ¡V may seem a little much to wear together, but as Jim Adams points out, these aren¡¦t just pieces of clothing.
The owner of Kingston¡¦s two Roots stores says they¡¦re garments that make regular folk feel like they¡¦re part of a nationwide cheering squad, part of the Olympics, part of Team Canada.
¡§Feeling like you¡¦re part of the team is a win-win-win situation,¡¨ he said.
Olympic fans win because they have hip new duds.
Roots wins because consumers are supporting a Canadian company.
Athletes win because a portion of the clothing sales is donated to the country¡¦s Olympic team.
Yesterday, Kingstonians were also hoping that the Olympic gear would help the Canadian men¡¦s hockey team win the gold medal match.
Maybe the men won the gold because they got better with each game. Maybe they won because Joe Sakic got two goals and two assists.
Or, maybe, just maybe, it was the Kingston vibes.
Just 40 minutes before the puck dropped in Salt Lake City, Kingstonians flooded the downtown Roots store to get Olympic-themed clothing to support the team.
Shanti Fernando was one Kingstonian who ran to the store to find a Canada sweatshirt. She was headed to a hockey party and wasn¡¦t about to venture to the get-together wearing a sweatshirt promoting American university UCLA.
¡§I needed to get something for the big game and I¡¦ve wanted a sweatshirt that said ¡¥Canada,¡¦ so this was the perfect time to get one,¡¨ she said.
Tabatha Baker also made a mad dash to the store to pick up a T-shirt as a lucky charm. She and her boy-friend Matt Wheeler were set to watch the game at a sports bar when she decided that she wasn¡¦t going to let her guy watch the game without sporting some Canada paraphernalia.
With less than 20 minutes before game time, she lied to him, said she had to get something from her car, ran down Princess Street and bought Wheeler a red Team Canada T-shirt.
¡§He wanted something with the Olympics on it and now¡¦s the time to get it ¡V in time for the Canada-U.S. game,¡¨ she said.
Adams made special arrangements so his Roots staff wouldn¡¦t be shut out of watching the hockey game. He brought TVs in to his downtown and Cataraqui Town Centre stores.
His staff at Sir Gawain was far luckier. He closed that store at 3 p.m. so his employees could spend the day with their families ¡V watching the game.
Just like the winter Olympics in Nagano in 1998 and the 2000 summer games in Sydney, Roots stuff has been flying off the shelves in Canada.
This year, for the 2002 Salt Lake City games, the Canadian-based company designed the Canadian, U.S., and British team outfits. The U.S. team¡¦s blue berets have become the must-have item in the States and even Adams has the American hat on back order.
Adams said even today, after the Olympic flame has been extinguished, Olympic clothing will continue be hot.
Aren¡¦t some people put off wearing the same threads as everyone else?
¡§Being Canadian is cool,¡¨ he said, ¡§and at the end of the day, it¡¦s not so bad to be wearing a maple leaf, is it?¡¨
The Canadian Olympic hockey teams probably don¡¦t think so.